a. Field
The present disclosure relates to a system for navigating a medical device within a body. In particular, the instant disclosure relates to a medical device navigation system configured to obtain information from and/or interact with a medical imaging system when the medical imaging system is not integrated with the medical device navigation system.
b. Background
A wide variety of medical devices are inserted into the body to diagnose and treat various medical conditions. Catheters, for example, are used to perform a variety of tasks within human bodies and other bodies including the delivery of medicine and fluids, the removal of bodily fluids and the transport of surgical tools and instruments. In the diagnosis and treatment of atrial fibrillation, for example, catheters may be used to deliver electrodes to the heart for electrophysiological mapping of the surface of the heart and to deliver ablative energy to the surface among other tasks. Catheters are typically routed to a region of interest through the body's vascular system. In a conventional approach, an introducer is used to puncture the skin surface and a sheath having an inner diameter greater than the outer diameter of the catheter is threaded through the vasculature to a region of interest. The catheter is then moved longitudinally through the sheath to the region of interest either manually by a clinician or through the use of electromechanical drive systems.
It is desirable to track the position of medical devices such as catheters as they are moved within the body so that, for example, drugs and other forms of treatment are administered at the proper location and medical procedures can be completed more efficiently and safely. One conventional means to track the position of medical devices within the body is fluoroscopic imaging. Fluoroscopy is disadvantageous, however, because it subjects the patient and physician to undesirable levels of electromagnetic radiation. As a result, medical device navigation systems have been developed to track the position of medical devices within the body. These systems typically rely on the generation of electrical or magnetic fields and the detection of induced voltages and currents on position sensors attached to the medical device and/or external to the body. The information derived from these systems is then provided to a physician through, for example, a visual display. Oftentimes, a representation of the medical device is displayed relative to a computer model or one or more images (including, but not limited to, fluoroscopic images) of the anatomical region in which the device is being maneuvered. In order to display the medical device at the correct location relative to the model or image, the model or image must be registered within the coordinate system of the navigation system.
Images may be registered in the coordinate system of a medical device navigation system in a variety of ways. If the imaging system used to capture the images is physically integrated with the navigation system, as described in commonly assigned U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2008/0183071, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, the imaging system can be registered with the navigation system during installation and the spatial relationship of the navigation system to the imaging system is thereafter constant and known, obviating the need for registration during each new procedure. Where the navigation system and imaging system are physically separate, however, the changing spatial relationship of the systems makes registration more complicated. Further, even when the navigation system and imaging system are physically integrated, the initial registration process is relatively time consuming.
The foregoing discussion is intended only to illustrate the present field and should not be taken as a disavowal of claim scope.